MERSEYSIDE was last night basking in its lowest unemployment rate since the 1970s, according to official figures revealed yesterday.

The number of men and women claiming unemployment benefits in Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, Knowsley and St Helens, is now 3.8pc.

This compares to a level of 2.5pc in the UK and across the North West, but the latest figures represent a massive improvement on historic unemployment rates for Merseyside.

Local officials say the levels have not been as low since 1973 when the region saw the start of a catalogue of factory closures, leaving Liverpool with a dole queue level of more than 20pc.

As recently as 1996, Liverpool's claimant level was almost 11pc, according to city council figures.

The number of Merseysiders finding work during the past year has consistently increased, going against the national trend.

Last night, Mersey Partnership chief executive Tom O'Brien welcomed the latest figures and said: "Our rate of claimants has fallen to its lowest level for decades. We are starting to catch up on our competing city regions in the UK.

"Unemployment levels on Merseyside are falling faster than any other city region in England, which is really good news. We are seeing some great successes, especially in Halton and Knowsley, two of the best performing districts in England."

Mr O'Brien, an economist who previously worked for the World Bank in New York before heading to Merseyside on secondment, added: "We still have a lot of work to do, but we are starting to make ground towards the national average of 2.5pc."

Figures issued by the Government's Office for National Statistics show the number of claimants in Merseyside this month is almost 3,000 less than the same month last year.

Liverpool city council leader Mike Storey last night told the Daily Post: "I am absolutely thrilled at this news. I have always said the most important job for me and the city council is to bring jobs and hope to Liverpool. I remember about five years ago going to New York and to Dublin and asking them how they had reinvented themselves.

"They told me they had simply started talking themselves up at every opportunity. Eventually it had an effect and they found themselves counting the cranes on the skyline. People now believe Liverpool is a place where they can do business."

The number of male claimants in Liverpool - a legacy of the massive loss of unskilled jobs in the 1970s and 1980s - is still one of the highest in England at 7.8pc. But even that figure has fallen significantly in the past year.